Opening presents by themselves - how old?

amr1218

Everyone has said that Christmas will be so fun this year b/c DD will be old enough to 'get it' and open her own presents.

She got a special present last night from a friend that I work with.  I tried and tried to get her to open the gift.  I figured she would enjoy playing w/ the paper - but she couldn't have been less interested. She totally ignored it and played w/ her usual toys.  I assume the same will be true later this month at all of the family gatherings.

At what age did your LO understand gifts and was able to unwrap them independently? 

jaeleigh25

My DD is 14 months, and she totally get gift bags! She loves the tissue paper and crinkling. With the wrapped packages, if I start it for her, she will get a few good tears in. Other than that, she isn't too interested.

NewFamily09

Oh wow, she's about 14 months?  Waaay too young.  I don't know who told you she would "get it" but from my experience, this doesn't happen until more like 2 1/2 to 3 years old.  DS2 will be 2 in a month and still probably doesn't get it.  We have a couple presents under the tree and he's shown no interest in them.  My3 year old totally gets it, but knows that he's not supposed to open them yet.  Of course, my experience is mostly with boys, so maybe it's different.  I've never known a 14 month old who understood the point of presents and showed really any interest in opening them.  You have to consider that they really don't get exposed to the idea of presents that often- Christmas, their birthdays, a few other birthdays a year.  Their memories aren't that good yet. But don't worry.  Even if you have to open the presents, she's probably old enough to get excited once she sees what's under the paper.  I'm sure you'll still have a great time with her.  My older son was 15 months for his 2nd Christmas and we had a blast with him.  We had to open stuff, but he had so much fun playing with all the new toys. 

dairygirl19

My 18 month old "gets" it. However, whether or not she a) wants to b) cares at the time is totally debatable.

What she does one day in this dept. isn't indicative of what she'll do tomorrow.

jc&cat

This christmas will be interesting for us since DS will be tearing open anything and everything that is wrapped. DD sort of looks and really at the surface doens't see anythig particularly exciting since the toy is WRAPPED and moves along. I think she'll learn by watching her big brother but otherwise, I don't expect too much tearing into gifts until next year.

valigrl21

At DD 1st birthday, she sat with me and sort of helped open presents. But after she saw the first gift, she didn't care about the rest and just wanted to play with that one toy.

DD is now 18 months. To get her ready/excited for Christmas, for the last few weeks, whenever something comes in the mail (we love amazon, so we always have packages delivered), we have DD sit down with us, we get all excited "A present!! Look a present!! What's inside?? What could it be, lets find out!" and open it with her. She gets excited with us most of the time.

But I still wouldnt say she really understands gifts and she can't unwrap them all by herself. If we pull the paper, she will help, but that's about it.

MisN

DD is 19 months and through a few birthdays lately she has now learned that "presents' are meant to be opened.  We have a few wrapped gifts under the tree now and she will go over to them and say "open" and "help" (not sure she quite understands the "waiting until Christmas part").  

I don't think she could fully unwrap a present without help but she may prove me wrong as these gifts under our tree right now are a big temptation.

RayRay007

Well DD hasn't really gotten a wrapped present since her 1 year bday, so I don't know. I expect she'll have fun ripping into presents this Christmas at 21 months old. She sure didn't get it at 1 y.o.

amr1218

The flip side to my op is that our dog LOVES opening gifts. Last night he threw a fit b/c he wasn't allowed to rip into the present.  He has a blast on Christmas morning b/c we let him tear all of the wrapping paper to shreds.  The sight of wrapped presents gets him excited.  Irony is the spice of life...

animalcrckers

my girls have opened early christmas presents already. DD1 obviously "gets it" and is super excited for santa and christmas.  DD2 was excited to unwrap the presents i think because she was watching her big sis being excited. 

chardonnay24

I honestly don't think my son will be interested at almost 23 months. He definitely wasn't into it at his first birthday, and I think he might like tearing the paper off a couple times but won't really understand that there are presents underneath, particularly because most presents are in a box. He's all about instant gratification.

LatteLady5

DD is 14 months and just did this the other night on skype for my inlaws. It was totally unexpected but she really enjoyed ripping the paper apart. Now if she could only remember that paper isn't for eating.

fancynewbeesly

Reese doesn't "get" it yet. She will do a few good tears. She does LOVE the present though--but it hasn't been an overwhelming amount. Just one a night for Hanukkah, so she is really able to enjoy that one gift. I have no clue how it will be for Christmas.

T&HLove

I imagine she will rip some of the paper off...

Open it, show excitement, then move on to open another... Not so much. 

authorofdreamz

DD opened all of her presents, bagged and wrapped, at her first birthday and anytime she sees a gift she wants it lol so I think she gets it.

MouseInLux

DD started to open presents when she was a year old but needed help. Now at 17 months she's a present opening machine...I can't wrap anything without her trying to open it again. I wrapped presents during her nap yesterday and we got our christmas tree at the same time (ILs brought it over). She could of cared less about the tree....man those presents though, she wanted to open them right then and there!

gajumper

My LO could care less.  As someone said bags are easier, and he will try to pull at the paper a time or two, but then looses interest.

So far he hasnt touched the few gifts under the tree. 

blu-eyedwife

I think this is one of those advantages of Channukah!  We're on night 7 tonight.  Every night we light the candles, sit down and open a present. On the first night, I'd tear a piece of the wrapping, and my 14 month old would pull it down, then lose interest.  We'd help finish opening it and ooh and aww.

Repeat every night, and 2 nights ago (so night 5) he "got it."  I'd tear a piece so he had something to pull, and he'd pull it open and then say "oooooooooh" as he reached inside to pull out the present and hug it.  Last night he got really excited when we sat down because he knew he was getting a present.

M&M227

We went to a baby shower a few weeks ago and some of DDs cousins were helping to open the presents, after watching them for a little bit she decided to get in on the fun, so I think she'll be into presents this year.  But if she hadn't seen the other kids doing it, I'm not sure she would have cared too much.

hokiemel7

My 21 month old is very excited opening gifts now, but wasn't in the past. I think she just didn't get the whole unwrapping concept? She will tear through gifts now like it's her job!

As far as does she "get it"? I'm guessing not a bit. We do explain who the gift is from and why she's getting in but I can tell it's not registering in her head. I think the other posters were correct in that maybe around 2.5/3 they'll understand more.  

StefiMarie

SUGGESTION:  Have her open a couple at home right before so she can understand that its not just a bag/box chore, but that there's fun things inside!  Works well with my 9 and 23 month olds!